1987 Aero Miyata
Part Diary, Part Technical Manual, Part Tips & Tricks

As I get older and spend more time with motorsports, I haven't been riding as much nor looking to buy new bikes. But a few months ago, through a pretty random set of circumstances, I met a fellow bike enthusiast in San Carlos. As we started talking about bikes, he realized I was a true bike nerd, so he takes me to this back room which had about 20 vintage framesets, maybe another 15 complete bicycles, and boxes and boxes of vintage parts. Although he had many beautiful bikes, the one that stood out to me was a Miyata funny bike with a 650c front wheel. I've always had a soft spot for these bikes and this was in pristine condition. He bought the bike back in December of 2008 from Wheel Base Bikes in Frederick, MD. He bought it as a NOS frameset, bottom bracket, headset, secatpost, and front wheel. After 11 years of ownership, he had added some parts, but never completed the build. All that was left to do was installing a chain, brake/shifter cables, and bar wrap. After a couple emails, we agreed upon a price, so on November 21, 2019, I bought a stunning Aero Miyata, my fifth funny bike (previous were Krono, Prologue TT, Hujsak, Janic).

4/25/2020 - I got an email from Rich of Hands On Wheels telling me he finished building my wheels. So I picked them up at noon and spent a few hours in the afternoon putting the finishing touches on the build. Routing the brake cables through the aero handlebars was such a pain. I actually considered just running the brake cables outside of the handlebars, but whats the point of building an 80s funny bike if you don't build it properly. So the trick for me was to detach the brake lever from the handlebar clamp. Then I was able to get the brake housing, brake cable, and brake lever all setup - then all I had to do was simply screw the lever back onto the clamp. Its been over eight years since I've had to mess with Delta brakes, I was just reminded just how fussy they are and how unforgiving the design is. So the bike is basically done, just need to put on bar wrap and then its 100% done. Looks likes there will be a maiden voyage tomorrow.

Here are the specs:

Frame: 1987 Aero Miyata, 56cm. Spline triple butted tubing, 126mm rear spacing. Serial Number: OE28701. Team blue, white, yellow.
Fork: #1175 Aero crown, 1" threaded, chrome.
Front Rim: Araya ADX-4 650c/26", tubular, 32h, super hard anodized.
Front Hub: Suntour Superbe Pro, 32h, radially laced..
Rear Rim: Mavic GP4, 700c, tubular, 32h, hard anodized.
Rear Hub: Shimano Dura Ace 7400, 6sp, Uniglide.
Front Tire: Vittoria Corsa CX Servizio Corse, 650c/26", tubular.
Rear Tire: Vittoria Chronometro C.S. Servizio Corse, 700c, tubular.
Cassette: Shimano, 6sp, 13-21T, Uniglide.
Crankset: Campagnolo Record, 53x39, 170mm, 135 BCD.
Bottom Bracket: Shimano Dura Ace BB-7400, 112mm.
Front Derailer: Shimano Dura Ace RD-7400, braze-on.
Rear Derailer: Shimano Dura Ace RD-7400.
Shifters: Shimano Dura Ace SL-7400, 6sp SIS, top mount.
Brake Levers: Campagnolo Record.
Headset: Shimano Dura Ace HP-7400, 1" threaded.
Chain: KMC Z8.1 GY/GY.
Stem: Nitto Dynamic 9, 90mm, 26.0mm.
Handlebar: Nitto Aero Dynamics, 26.0mm, heat treated.
Brakes: Campagnolo Delta.
Pedal: LOOK KeO Classic, black.
Seatpost: Shimano Dura Ace SP-7400-B, 26.8mm, aero.
Saddle: Selle Italia Turbo Matic. Black, yellow.
Bottle Cage: Shimano AX Aero, from the MX-Z.

Current gearing

The bike weighs 22 lbs 9 oz as shown.

The following are parts that I am currently not using:
Bottom Bracket: Shimano BB-UN71, 114mm.
Front Derailer: Shimano Dura Ace RD-7403, braze-on.
Rear Derailer: Shimano Dura Ace RD-7402.
Pedal: Shimano Dura Ace PD-7400.